When the Kite String Pops

Last updated

When the Kite String Pops
Acid Bath - When The Kite String Pops.jpg
Studio album by
Acid Bath
ReleasedAugust 8, 1994
RecordedSide One, Metairie, Louisiana
Genre Sludge metal
Length69:02
Producer Spike Cassidy
Greg Troyner
Acid Bath
Acid Bath chronology
Hymns of the Needle Freak
(1993)		When the Kite String Pops
(1994)		 Radio Edits 1
(1994)
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [1]
Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal 7/10 [2]
SputnikmusicStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar half.svg [3]

When the Kite String Pops is the debut studio album of American sludge metal band Acid Bath. Released on August 8, 1994, it is considered an underground classic and an early example of sludge metal. The album's artwork is a self-portrait made by notorious serial killer John Wayne Gacy while in prison awaiting execution.

Contents

Cover art

The album's cover art is a painting by John Wayne Gacy named "Skull Clown" [4] in which he depicts himself as his clown alter-ego, "Pogo the Clown". The balloons on the lower part contain both his nickname and his real name, J. W. Gacy. [5]

The use of artwork by a convicted serial killer caused controversy, with Rotten Records president Ron Peterson defending the decision by saying, "It's America—you should be able to do what you want". Acid Bath's follow-up album, Paegan Terrorism Tactics , continued the provocative streak by using artwork created by euthanasia proponent Jack Kevorkian. [6]

Themes

On the Double Live Bootleg! DVD (2002), vocalist Dax Riggs introduced the song "Tranquilized" by saying, "This song is about getting high any way you do it, and kicking the earth from beneath you" and "Cheap Vodka" by saying, "This song is about getting wasted and killing things, blood, sex, and blasphemy." "Toubabo Koomi" is Cajun French for "land of the white cannibals." It was the only Acid Bath song that was made into a music video. According to guitarist Sammy Duet, the alligator which appeared in the video ended up biting someone's face. [7] The song "God Machine" begins with a spoken word introduction by Riggs.

Reception

In 1999, sales of the album were just over 37,000 copies in the US, which is higher than average for a band with no publicity and released exclusively on an independent label. [8] [ better source needed ]

Track listing

All songs written and composed by Acid Bath.

No.TitleLength
1."The Blue"6:13
2."Tranquilized"4:14
3."Cheap Vodka"2:14
4."Finger Paintings of the Insane"6:04
5."Jezebel"4:53
6."Scream of the Butterfly"6:14
7."Dr. Seuss Is Dead"6:04
8."Dope Fiend"5:19
9."Toubabo Koomi"5:01
10."God Machine"5:00
11."The Morticians Flame"4:05
12."What Color Is Death?"3:19
13."The Bones of Baby Dolls"6:00
14."Cassie Eats Cockroaches"4:22
Total length:69:02

Music videos

Personnel

Acid Bath

Production

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">43rd Annual Grammy Awards</span> Award ceremony

The 43rd Annual Grammy Awards were held on February 21, 2001, at the Staples Center in Los Angeles, California. They recognized accomplishments by musicians from the year 2000. Several artists earned three awards on the night. Steely Dan's haul included Album of the Year for Two Against Nature. U2 took home the Record of the Year and Song of the Year for "Beautiful Day". Dr. Dre won Producer of the Year, Non-Classical and Best Rap Album for Eminem's The Marshall Mathers LP. Eminem himself also received three awards, out of four nominations. Faith Hill took home Best Country Album for the album Breathe, Best Female Country Vocal Performance for the song's title track and Best Country Collaboration with Vocals with Tim McGraw for "Let's Make Love". Madonna opened the show with "Music".

Sludge metal is an extreme subgenre of heavy metal music that combines elements of doom metal and hardcore punk. The genre generally includes slow tempos, tuned down guitars and nihilistic lyrics discussing poverty, drug addiction and pollution.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Danielle Dax</span> English experimental musician (born 1958)

Danielle Gardner, known professionally as Danielle Dax, is an English rock musician, music producer, and artist most active from the late-1970s to the mid-1990s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goatwhore</span> American extreme metal band

Goatwhore is an American extreme metal band formed in New Orleans, Louisiana in 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Acid Bath</span> American sludge metal band

Acid Bath was an American sludge metal band from Houma, Louisiana, active from 1991 to 1997. Acid Bath combined doom metal roots with influences from hardcore punk, death metal, gothic rock, and blues to create the band's unique sound. They broke up after the death of bassist Audie Pitre in a traffic collision in January 1997.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Macabre (band)</span> American extreme metal band

Macabre is an American extreme metal band from Chicago. Since their formation in 1985, the band has featured the same three members with no lineup changes. The group's style blends thrash metal, death metal, and grindcore. Lyrically, Macabre have a strong focus on serial killers, mass murderers and humorous elements. The group is currently signed to Nuclear Blast.

<i>Sinister Slaughter</i> 1993 studio album by Macabre

Sinister Slaughter is the second full-length album by American death metal band Macabre and was released in 1993 by Nuclear Blast Records. The cover artwork is a parody on the Beatles album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band featuring the band members, serial killers and mass murderers instead of famous people. The album was re-released in 2000 in a digipak that included the songs off the Behind the Wall of Sleep EP as bonus tracks.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Enuff Z'Nuff</span> American glam metal band

Enuff Z'Nuff is an American rock band from Blue Island, Illinois, founded by singer Donnie Vie and bassist Chip Z'Nuff. The band charted two times on the US Hot 100; "Fly High Michelle" (#47) and "New Thing" (#67).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dax Riggs</span> American rock musician

Dax David Riggs is an American musician, best known for fronting the sludge metal band Acid Bath in the 1990s. He has been a part of many projects since then, including Agents of Oblivion and Deadboy & the Elephantmen. In 2007 he began releasing material under his own name.

<i>Committed to a Bright Future</i> 2003 studio album by Dog Fashion Disco

Committed to a Bright Future is the fifth studio album by American metal band Dog Fashion Disco, released in 2003. Music videos were made for the songs "The Acid Memoirs","Grease" and "Love Song for a Witch".

Deadboy & the Elephantmen was an American indie rock band active from 2000 to 2007. Based in Houma, Louisiana, the band was fronted by Dax Riggs.

<i>Paegan Terrorism Tactics</i> 1996 studio album by Acid Bath

Paegan Terrorism Tactics is the second and final studio album by American sludge metal band Acid Bath. It is the band's last album before their disbanding in 1997 due to the death of bassist Audie Pitre.

<i>Demos: 1993–1996</i> 2005 compilation album by Acid Bath

Demos: 1993–1996 is a compilation of demos by American sludge metal band Acid Bath. It was released by Rotten Records in December 2005.

<i>If This Is Hell, Then Im Lucky</i> 2002 studio album by Deadboy & the Elephantmen

If This Is Hell, Then I'm Lucky is the debut album by Deadboy & the Elephantmen, fronted by Dax Riggs, formerly of Acid Bath and Agents of Oblivion. The album was re-released on February 5, 2008, under Dax Riggs's name only, and again in 2010 by Rotten Records, using the band's proper title. It features Dax Riggs, Jason Dupre (guitar), Christopher T. Gautreaux, Jeff LeCompte, and Kurt Westwood.

<i>Sonic Excess in Its Purest Form</i> 2001 studio album by Crowbar

Sonic Excess in Its Purest Form is the seventh studio album by American sludge metal band Crowbar. It was released on August 21, 2001. It is the last album to feature guitarist Sammy Duet, and the first and only album to feature bassist Jeff Okoneski and ex-Machine Head drummer Tony Costanza.

<i>We Sing of Only Blood or Love</i> 2007 studio album by Dax Riggs

We Sing of Only Blood or Love is the debut solo album by American singer and songwriter Dax Riggs. It was slated to be the next Deadboy and the Elephantmen album before the band's dissolution. Riggs decided to release it under his own name on August 21, 2007. Matt Sweeney provided a combination of guitar, bass, piano, and backing vocals for all of the tracks, as well as producing the record.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Agents of Oblivion</span> American rock band

Agents of Oblivion was an American rock band from Louisiana that evolved from Acid Bath. Fronted by Dax Riggs, their sound displayed influences from swamp rock, psychedelic rock, blues rock, grunge and metal, among others.

<i>Agents of Oblivion</i> (album) 2000 studio album by Agents of Oblivion

Agents of Oblivion is the only album by American rock band Agents of Oblivion fronted by Dax Riggs, formerly of Acid Bath.

<i>Radio Edits 1</i> 1994 remix album by Acid Bath

Radio Edits 1, or simply Edits, was a remix album by American sludge metal band Acid Bath, released in September 1994 to radio stations only for promotional purposes. This album was not available to the general public and was an attempt to get the band more exposure. The four songs on this album were the most popular from the band's first full album, When the Kite String Pops, that were remixed and cleaned up to make them suitable for airing on the radio.

<i>Master of Brutality</i> 2001 studio album by Church of Misery

Master of Brutality is the debut studio album by the Japanese doom metal band Church of Misery, released in 2001 by Southern Lord Records.

References

  1. ↑ AllMusic review
  2. ↑ Popoff, Martin (2007). The Collector's Guide to Heavy Metal: Volume 3: The Nineties. Burlington, Ontario, Canada: Collector's Guide Publishing. p. 10. ISBN   978-1-894959-62-9.
  3. ↑ Mancusio, Jack. "When The Kite String Pops Review". Sputnikmusic. Retrieved May 31, 2017.
  4. ↑ Sharpe-Young, Garry (2005). New Wave of American Heavy Metal. New Plymouth, New Zealand: Zonda Books Limited. p. 14. ISBN   978-0-9582684-0-0.
  5. ↑ Glenn, Jenni (February 1997). "Riffs". CMJ New Music Monthly . No. 42. p. 45. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  6. ↑ Morris, Chris (November 9, 1996). "Album Artwork Hits New Low on Rotten Records". Billboard . p. 57. Retrieved December 19, 2020.
  7. ↑ Archived at Ghostarchive and the Wayback Machine : Sammy tells story of the Acid Bath – Toubabo Koomi Alligator biting someones face. YouTube .
  8. ↑ Metal Sludge – Sludge Scan For November 1999 – The Power & Glory since 1998
  9. ↑ "This is Where the Intro of 'God Machine' Comes from (Acid Bath)". YouTube .
  10. ↑ When the Kite String Pops – Acid Bath | Credits | AllMusic , retrieved December 19, 2020


This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.